Don’t Walk Away From Health Care Reform!
January 22, 2010 at 5:54 pm Judith Stein 2 comments
The Center for Medicare Advocacy supports efforts to pass the Senate’s health reform bill. We reiterate what President Obama asked of Congress in his State of the Union address, “don’t walk away from [health] reform!” Paul Krugman agreed in his NewYork Times editorial.
Now is not the time to retreat, or to insist that the perfect defeat the good. Too many people have no health insurance, too many are denied coverage because of preexisting conditions, too many face bankruptcy because of uncovered medical bills for us to give up.
What would Ted Kennedy do? He would agree! He would push forward to pass the Senate health reform bill. As he writes in his memoir about his efforts to pass reform – in 1977:
“My staff and I worked hard to craft a plan that would be capable of having broad-based support. Specifically, we negotiated long and hard in 1977 to persuade .. the AFL-CIO and … the UAW, to compromise on their strong commitment to a single-payer system, where health care providers would be paid from a single national fund like Medicare – and agree instead to support a plan built on our existing system of private insurance provided that coverage was mandatory and universal. I had personally supported single payer in the past and understood the benefits of it, but I also knew that it would be politically impossible to pass.” True Compass, p. 359 (2009)
Listen to Teddy! Pass the Senate health care reform bill as soon as possible – if that’s what can be done, if that’s what’s feasible – do it!
To speak to your members of Congress, call (800)828-0498.
Entry filed under: Health Care Reform, Single Payer. Tags: Health Care Reform, Ted Kennedy.
CMA Health Policy Blog 
1.
Amir | February 18, 2010 at 4:18 am
The current proposal in Congress does not address any of the most meaningful issues in health care:
1) The need for single-payer insurance Multi-payer systems inflate health care costs and give 8-12% of total health system costs to private insurers in system waste
2) True universality of coverage in a plan that doesn’t create a second-class citizenry of the insured Congressional plans still leave 10-15% of our country insured and create a second-class system of the poor insured that will place them below Medicaid recipients with respect to stigma and prioritization of care
3) The crisis of doctor shortages and primary care deficits in American medical care Doctors are retiring at record rates and they are only being replaced at 75-85% rate because of a monopoly and market-control of the MD control by the AMA. Also, we have a 2/3 primary care / specialist ratio and 40% less per-capita doctors than the best European and Scandinavian countries. We have plenty of dermatologists and radiologists but not enough doctors to complete basic screenings and offer fundamental preventative care
4) Tax shortages for the Federal government and a lack of funding for the Medicare (and Social Security) trust funds With a $13 trillion deficit and annual budget deficits of greater than $500B, our country and our entitlement programs are heading for bankruptcy without a 7% across the board tax cut. The idea of providing greater benefits without tax hikes is a myth impossible through policy
5) Tort reform and the end of defensive medicine The featured research section of my website discusses the true costs of defensive medicine, which are high and staggering. Most studies that indicate these costs are 0.5% of total system costs are flawed econometric studies that poorly measure true indirect effects on health care costs within our American system
My website addresses these issues, and many more, as they related to health policy, comparative health systems and public health. I encourage you to all check the site out and appreciate your visits. Every visit also raises money that goes 100% to charity to fight disease.
The url is: http://www.satvathealthcare.com
Thanks,
Amir Satvat
MBA in Health Care Management, The Wharton School
MPA in Health Policy and Management, New York University
Former Health Care Investment Banker, Goldman Sachs
2.
b | February 19, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Someone really needs to stop playing with people’s lives and people’s health and get rid of all the if’s, but’s, and’s & or’s. If a person is sick then they should have coverage because the premiums ARE BEING PAID FOR HEALTH CARE SERVICES whatever they might be. We need INSURANCE REFORM to correct all those deficiencies already. Stop the procrastination already and fix it!